Experimental Verification and Analysis of Solar Parabolic Collector for Water Distillation

The paper is concerned with an experimental study of parabolic trough collector with its sun tracking system designed and manufactured to facilitate rapid diffusion and widespread use of solar energy. The paper focuses on use of alternative source of energy (through suns radiation) which is easy to install, operate and maintain. Also, to improve the performance of solar concentrator, different geometries were evaluated with respect to their optical and energy conversion efficiency. To assure good performance and long technical lifetime of a concentrating system, the solar reflectance of the reflectors must be high and long term stable. During the research carried out, focus had been shifted from evaluation of the performance of concentrating solar collector to analysis of the optical properties of reflector and absorbing materials. The shift of focus was motivated by the need to assess long term system performance and possibilities of optimizing the optical efficiency or reducing costs by using new types of reflector materials and absorbing materials. The Solar Parabolic Trough Collector (SPTC) was fabricated in local workshops and the sun tracking system was assembled using electric and electronic components in the market, while the mechanical components making up the driving system were procured from the local market. The objective of the research is to obtain distilled water by heating it to a higher temperature by solar parabolic trough collector. Solar distillation is used to produce potable water or to produce water for lead acid batteries or in chemical laboratories as in this case. The level of dissolved solids in solar distilled water is less than 3 ppm and bacteria free. The requirements for this specific design are a target for distilling water regularly with low maintenance.